Davies, Peter E./Laurier, Jim (Illustr.)/Hector, Gareth (Illustr.) B-52 Stratofortress vs Sa-2 "Guideline" SAM

Ever since its introduction in the late 1950s, the B-52 "Stratofortress" has been the United States' primary heavy bomber and a powerful symbol of its immense military might. Its powerful electronic countermeasures equipment (ECM) was thought to make the B-52 immune to ground-to-air missile attack, but in Vietnam, and later conflicts such as Operation "Desert Storm" in 1991, it came up against the Soviet-designed SA-2 SAM which used heavy salvos of missiles to bring down the bombers. The losses of several of its most feared, powerful, and supposedly invincible bombers per night to a torrent of Soviet missiles during the closing stages of the Vietnam War was sobering to Americans, but the B-52s' crushing attacks virtually eliminated North Vietnam's defenses and forced a peace settlement. This fascinating book will analyze the roles of the SA-2 operators and the B-52 Electronic Warfare Officers (EWOs) using specially commissioned artwork as well as first-hand account, and traces the cat-and-mouse tactics that each side employed.

This fascinating book analyses the roles of SA-2 operators on the ground and B-52 Electronic Warfare Officers (EWOs) in the air using specially commissioned colour illustrations, contemporary photographs and first-hand accounts that give a good insight into the cat-and-mouse game between the American bombers and the North Vietnamese anti-aircraft missiles.